Louisville FB: Evans, Jordan Need Big Game vs. NC State

Louisville is set to face off against NC State this Saturday at 3:30 PM EST for their last ACC matchup in the regular season. The ACC announced on Wednesday that due to the cancellation of the Coastal Carolina-Virginia game, the Louisville vs. NC State matchup has been moved from the ACC Network to ACC’s Regional Sports Networks, which can be watched via the Bally Sports App.

This announcement caused a lot of confusion for hopeful spectators because this decision made it more difficult to watch the game, especially for Louisville fans who will not be in attendance Saturday afternoon at Cardinal Stadium.

Louisville is anticipating nearly all of its 2023 Recruiting Class to be in attendance for the matchup against the Wolfpack. Headlined by names like Luke Burgess, Rueben Owens, Pierce Clarkson, Adonijah Green, Stanquan Clark, the Cardinals look to notch their third win of the season on a huge recruiting weekend.

Scott Satterfield looks to record his seventh victory on the season as he heads into this weekend against the Wolfpack. Seven wins is a threshold that Coach has not reached since his first season wearing the headset for the Cardinals. Not only would a win this weekend breach the seven-win threshold but it would also secure a better bowl game after their final regular season matchup against Kentucky.

In order for Louisville to secure a win, the backfield needs to be stabilized by Tennessee transfer Tiyon Evans and Jawhar Jordan. Evans and Jordan need to have big games because it has been announced that Malik Cunningham is questionable for the game and they will be without Trevion Cooley (out for personal reasons) and Jalen Mitchell (out with leg injury).

Joining Evans and Jordan in the backfield will most likely be backup quarterback Brock Domann, who led Louisville to the first win of their four game winning streak against Virginia. This will be the fifth time this year that the junior quarterback will take the field for Cunningham due to injuries.

The good news is that Domann will no longer be shaking the rust off, but he still needs to establish continuity in the offense against an NC State team who has been in the AP Top 25 all season long until this week.

NC State lost their starting quarterback Devin Leary in their Week 6 matchup against Florida State and ever since then the Wolfpack have gone through ups and downs. Last week was most certainly a down as they lost to Boston College by one point, falling to the Eagles 21-20.

Ironically enough, Louisville lost to Boston College earlier this year by one point, falling behind 33-34. After that loss, the Cardinals would go on to win four in a row for the first time since 2016. But their streak came to an end last week in Death Valley at the hands of the Clemson Tigers. Louisville has been battling the team they are matched up against as much as they have been battling the referees. This was one of the many missed calls by the ACC officials last week.

Hopefully, the tide turns with the officials tomorrow but it will most likely remain the same. Louisville is currently a 3.5 point favorite over the Wolfpack, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. And the Cardinals will need to have a big game out of the backfield in order to cover the spread.

NC State’s defense is currently giving up an average of 98.6 rushing yards per game, which is good enough for ninth in the country in run defense. So Tiyon Evans and Jawhar Jordan have their work cut out for them. If Louisville’s offensive line can control the line of scrimmage, then the run game can get into rhythm giving Domann some time in the pocket whenever he sets up to pass.